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unbefremdlich

English translation: not off-putting / unobjectionable


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:unbefremdlich
English translation:not off-putting / unobjectionable
Entered by: Helen Shiner
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16:37 Sep 17, 2009
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Linguistics / Study on dialects
German term or phrase: unbefremdlich
Please help me translate the term "unbefremdlich" in the context below

The feelings of the test participants from old federal states towards the dialect varied between positive and negative. While for many of them it sounded unremarkable, unbefremdlich (unembarrassing), pleasant and unausgeprägt (unincisive), in the opinion of others it was unpleasant, unattractive, rigorous, coarse and unlovely
Anna Muntean Stacanova
United States
Local time: 15:56
not off-putting
Explanation:
Though you would have to change the verb from 'sounded' to 'was'. ie they said it was not off-putting for them/to their ears.
Selected response from:

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:56
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3not off-putting
Helen Shiner
4 +1ordinaryJon Reynolds
3 +2unobjectionable
Annett Kottek
3not disconcertingAudrey Foster
3inobtrusive
Tom Tyson
3(reassuringly) familiar
Sherin Khullar
3unremarkablexxxsirgay
2 -1estranged
Goldcoaster


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
unremarkable


Explanation:
&

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Note added at 8 mins (2009-09-17 16:45:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

ooops, you've got 'unremarkable' there already...

unamuzing ?

xxxsirgay
Local time: 20:56
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
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36 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
ordinary


Explanation:
given that "befremdlich" means something like strange or outlandish, could this simply just be translated as "ordinary".

Jon Reynolds
Germany
Local time: 20:56
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  orla: nothing strange about it, familiar, ordinary
1 hr
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55 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): -1
estranged


Explanation:
my guess

Goldcoaster
Switzerland
Local time: 21:56
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in GermanGerman

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  TonyTK: It means the opposite, no? (Quite apart from which - would you call a dialect "estranged"? Surely not.
12 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
(reassuringly) familiar


Explanation:
Congruence: 'a familiar dialect'.

Sherin Khullar
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:56
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Anne-Marie Grant
1 hr
disagree  Andrew Swift: Asker: "The feelings of the test participants from *old federal states* towards the dialect ..." Hence, not familiar, but nonetheless, they don't find that it jars on their ears, i.e. it is 'inoffensive'.
4 hrs
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
not off-putting


Explanation:
Though you would have to change the verb from 'sounded' to 'was'. ie they said it was not off-putting for them/to their ears.

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:56
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Trudy Peters: one possibility
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, Trudy
agree  Sandra SAYN
7 hrs
  -> Thanks, Sandra
agree  urbom: For UK readers, yes. "Off-putting" isn't really used much in the US, though. (we haven't been told which variety is required here)
11 hrs
  -> Thanks, urbom, yes, I can't judge what would work in the US.
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
inobtrusive


Explanation:
Something of a long shot, but if 'befremdlich' disconcerts you then if it's inobtrusive it surely doesn't bother you at all. It seems to go nicely with the idea that the dialect is bland and inoffensive.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2009-09-17 22:59:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/inobtrusive
http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/inobtrusive
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inobtrusive
http://www.encyclo.co.uk/define/Inobtrusive

Tom Tyson
Local time: 20:56
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Helen Shiner: unobtrusive?
20 mins
  -> I've added some links above. I think they're fairly synonymous.
neutral  urbom: "inobtrusive" gets 22,300 Google hits. "unobtrusive" gets 2,590,000 . Thus Unobtrusive is used in context over 100 times as frequently as inobtrusive
12 hrs
  -> Your point? "unbefremdlich" gets 185 hits.
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
unobjectionable


Explanation:
I first thought of 'not off-putting', like Helen, but if you want to keep the pattern of 'un' prefixes, then 'unobjectionable' might work here. I think that the emotion of embarrassment would be overstating it, which IMO describes a somewhat undefined feeling of discomfort, or, as the dictionary says, disconcertion. Like beermat has already pointed out, 'un/befremdlich' is on a scale that is difficult to pinpoint. It could embarrass some people, but others might just experience an unpleasant/strange feeling.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 hrs (2009-09-18 06:47:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

That should be 'I think that the emotion of embarrassment would be overstating it, as 'befremdlich' IMO describes...'. I'm finding editing online very difficult, too much information all round to deal with, I guess, sorry.

Annett Kottek
United Kingdom
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  urbom
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, urbom.
agree  Andrew Swift
3 hrs
  -> Thank you, Andrew.
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17 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
not disconcerting


Explanation:
Thankfully people in real cities like New York, San Fran, and Chicago know Miami has a disconcerting dialect that seems to grow on you like a hemorrhoid swell each time "you pass by the store", spouts off a newspaper which panders to jingoists and can be entered in at speed-reading conventions, contains a radio dial where the only fulfilling "the public need for rock-music" objective is flooding the airwaves with "Scar Tissue" and "The Beautiful people", and lacks any type of civically-minded infrastructure who vote with their conscious.
http://tinyurl.com/b69rvu

Audrey Foster
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
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Changes made by editors
Oct 1, 2009 - Changes made by Helen Shiner:
Created KOG entryKudoZ term => KOG term


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